Page 6 of The Holiday Heartbreaker

“This is Benny,” she said, her answering smile tight.

He stressed her out.

“Hi, Benny,” he said.

The kid looked up at him, and he noticed that his eyes were the same blue as Elizabeth’s. “Hi. Are you a pirate?”

Standing there in his T-shirt, jeans and cowboy hat, it had never occurred to Brody that he might be confused for a pirate.

“No,” he said. “At least, not on Saturdays.”

“Why not on Saturdays?” Elizabeth asked, her nose wrinkling slightly.

Why was that adorable?

“Because today is Saturday and I’m obviously dressed as a cowboy.”

“Oh,” she said. “I guess that...that makes sense.”

The woman could hardly take a joke. He shouldn’t find her hot.

“You’re a cowboy?” Benny asked, clearly interested.

“Yes. This is a ranch, or did you not realize?”

“My mom just said something about horses.” He shrugged. “Horses are boring.”

“Horses are boring,” he repeated.

Brody had never been so offended in his life. And by a half-grown piglet. “Horses are the furthest thing from boring, kid. Horses are the Wild West.”

“Not the way my mom does it. She just rides in a circle.”

“I do not just ride in a circle,” she said.

He’d seen her ride. In those heaven-sent English-style riding breeches. The way this woman rode wasn’t boring, not at all.

“The reason what your mom does looks boring is that she makes it look easy. You don’t see all the work that goes into it because that’s what it’s like when someone is an expert.”

“She’s an expert?” The kid looked skeptical.

“The best there is, or we wouldn’t have hired her to work here. You know why?” The kid shook his head. “There are going to be some people who have injuries. And not just injuries to their bodies, things that have frightened them or hurt them inside. In places you can’t see. Horses help heal those things.”

Benny frowned. “How?”

“Because horses understand you. Without you needing to talk. Without you needing to do anything at all. And sometimes all a person needs is to be understood.” He realized that Elizabeth was staring at him. He returned her gaze. “Don’t you think?”

“Yes,” she said, as if it surprised her. “I do.”

He straightened. “Gus asked me to show you around the place.”

That wasn’t strictly true. He’d volunteered to do it. Because he liked the look of her. Though, Gus had given him a stern warning with that scarred-up face of his. And Brody’d done what he did best, and ignored it.

Anyway, Gus was a lot tamer now that he had his little woman. Who would’ve ever thought?

Gus and Alaina. Together. Like that.

Certainly not something Brody would ever have picked out.

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